


Winter

by Prosaic



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-20
Updated: 2012-08-20
Packaged: 2017-11-12 12:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prosaic/pseuds/Prosaic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rue and her prince come home for the winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Could be considered a companion piece to Summer if you like. Completed in 2009.

The cold was starting to make her eyes water. 

Rue sighed into the brisk late afternoon air, only to be startled by the small cloud materializing before her seconds later. She blushed at her own foolishness; just because she’d never experienced such weather until now didn’t mean she’d never read about it’s effects-this was nothing to be surprised by. 

Still, she let out two experimental breaths, watching them become a sort of gaseous stream reminiscent of steam leaving the spout of an over heated tea pot. The image of herself suddenly becoming too round and sprouting a handle while producing a high pitched whistling suddenly whipped all of the novelty out of the phenomenon.

For the longest time there had been no such season other then spring in Kinkan. Residents of the town, including herself, had never considered anything odd about the state of the weather. They had not forgotten what fall or summer or winter had been like; they were only stuck in the assumption that the seasons had already passed, and never questioned otherwise. And once they had been released from the story holding them captive, as with all other things concerning talking animals and questioning rivers, they’d continued to pay the seasons no mind and simply went about daily life as if nothing had ever been amiss. 

But she’d left before she’d gotten to experience the change of season.

At first this had hardly been a problem; she was free of her father and had her beloved prince and a lovely palace with hundreds of servants, what more was there to be needed?

As time went on, however, she began to realize that even with her prince, she couldn’t help but wonder about her old home and the people she’d left behind. Her new kingdom’s weather, although seasonal, was unusually warm all year round-hardly the sudden rush from hot to cold she had expected. 

She ducked as a flock of ravens swooped down from above, their wings brushing her hair as they called out a greeting. She furiously waved them away; of all the animals that stayed behind or outdoors during the winter, it must only be her hard luck that the huge cruel birds were among them. 

She refused to acknowledge the fact that she had understood their call of _“Welcome, welcome princess.”_ as clear as if they had spoken it in German. 

It was Mytho who eventually insisted on their returning to Kinkan. He’d begun to pine for the place that he’d truly developed into not the prince, but the _person_ that he was now. After re-accustoming himself with his life as a royal, he became restless for the mundane. He wanted to be able to wash dishes, and tidy his room, and _bake_ \--activities he’d learned to do while living with Fakir that were now considered improper for someone of his status to partake in. Most of all, he missed the people he’d come to consider his family. 

Rue was a little annoyed with herself that she hadn’t been the one to request they revisit originally. It was she, after all, who had dreams about practicing in the ballet studio, and lying under the large tree in the park on a warm summer’s day, and little yellow ducks with bright hopeful eyes who _yes_ were most certainly smiling at her, that always left her waking with the tight familiar feeling of longing in her chest. 

And they’d come back to find their town unchanged; just as pristine and inviting as it was in their happier recollections. 

Save for the cheerful waterfowl that at some point over the course of their absence had been turned human. No matter how she pinched and prodded and demanded an explanation from him, the knight-turned-story spinner refused to let her see the document that had eventually transformed her friend. Mytho accepted it as a blessed miracle and left it at that. His blind acceptance and the dismissal of the subject by all involved infuriated her. It wasn’t that she wasn’t pleased about the turn of events, only that she couldn’t help but feel as though she was being excluded from the only people she’d ever grown to deem close to her. She didn’t like the feeling of being barred from such an important event. They were _her_ friends, she should have been informed the moment the incident took place.

She didn’t want to be cut off from them.

A particularly nasty gust of wind knocked her out of her musings and she moved to wrap herself deeper into her coat. She jolted violently at the pair of arms that suddenly materialized from behind her to wrap around her shoulders. Before she could twist away from them their owner spoke.

“Ahha, sorry. You looked so cold just now.”

She huffed and let herself fall back against the body embracing her. 

“I was…thank you.” 

He was quiet for a moment. 

“Where did you go? I turned around in the shop and you’d left.”

“…Sorry. I was--…I needed a little air.” Her eyes traced the shadows in the thick clouds that coated the sky.

“Oh.” His breath caught, waiting for her to finish, but she didn’t have anything else to add. The silence that followed seemed to seep in, and solidified as a sort of barrier between them that blocked any of the previous warmth. She felt bothered by it and tired to focus again on the forms that the dark shapes took overhead. 

 

“…I was worried.” It was barely a whisper. “I was worried. You weren’t there, I thought something might have--” He moved closer. “You shouldn’t--...not tell me when you’re going somewhere.” His grip around her tightened. 

She frowned in surprise at his sudden change in demeanor. _Was he really that troubled_? 

“I’m sorry.” She was sincere this time, turning in his arms, her nose rubbing against his cheek. 

He sighed, slumping against her before to returning the gesture. He smiled brightly, his previous despondent air vanishing so quickly she wondered if she hadn’t imagined it. 

“It’s alright.” He reached out to take her hand, and started to slowly lead her back down the snow covered road. 

They walked this way, hand in hand as snowflakes just started to waft lazily down around them. Even with the heavy snow clouds blocking any view of the sun Rue could tell it was starting to get late. _Just how long had she been out wandering by herself?_

Their footsteps crunched on the newly fallen snow. She looked back at them, two sets of footprints made in unison, perfectly spaced from one another. Hers slightly widened as she slowed to watch them form, and she felt Mytho stretch farther ahead of her, still clasping her hand. He stopped when he realized she’d been falling behind. 

“Rue?”

She faced him, and then hurried to move back to his side. 

“Sorry.” 

He was frowning slightly. She squeezed his hand, hoping to edge him on. They started moving again. 

“Ahiru and Fakir said they might try to come by Karon’s and have dinner since he’ll be out too late to eat with us.”

She blinked. Rather than have them rent a room at one of the local inns, Karon had insisted on them taking Fakir’s room over the course of their visit. 

“Oh? They aren’t busy with the upcoming recital?”

“Ah, they said…they might be. But they’d try and see if they could make it.” His voice had lost the little echo of hope it had had a moment ago. 

.....

By the time they’d made it back to the blacksmith’s home the wind had pick up, blowing a stinging cold over their uncovered faces. Mytho fumbled with their spare key before finally fitting it into the lock and throwing the door open. They stumbled in, pushing the door closed and shedding their protective layers that were now damp from the snow. Rue frowned, struggling with the buttons of her coat with frozen fingers before forgoing the attempt entirely and pulling it over her head. She let it fall to the ground in a heap, moving to straighten her sweater that had been pulled up during her struggle, subjecting the pale skin of her stomach to the cool air. She looked up during her task to find Mytho watching her, his eyes fixed on her exposed waist. He jumped a little when he saw her staring at him, twisting his scarf in his hands.

“Uh-um, I’ll…I’ll go make something to warm us, shall I?” He turned and scrambled for the kitchen. She blinked after him, and then made to fallow, pausing to hang their discarded garments by the door. 

When she finally joined him, he’d placed a large filled teakettle on the stove and was attempting to light the burner. Rue watched his progress, the earlier picture of herself as one of the hunks of metal swimming unbidden to the front of her mind. Wishing to distract herself from the unwelcome mental image, she moved to help him. 

Mytho was strangely clumsy in his actions, fumbling with the gas valve of the stove top. When she was suddenly unexpectedly beside him, he gasped and his arm jerked, the kettle with it. In the next instant, the two of them had water dripping from the front of their sweaters and collecting in small puddles around their feet. He stared in shock at the kettle in his hand, before looking down at his drenched sweater, and then sheepishly meeting her gaze--a blush she never recalled ever seeing on him before dusting across his cheeks. 

“I…um…” He blinked, panting a little.

“…Sorry.” 

......

They’d moved to their guest room, which was truly Fakir’s room, to change into dry clothes. Mytho faced away from her, his head bowed as he traced his fingers over the edge of his shirt without making any move to put it on. 

Rue had pulled on a soft peach silk undershirt, and was in the process of hunting for her nightgown when he spoke.

“Rue…I’m sorry.”

Her eyes softened has they ran over his hunched shoulders. 

“I told you it’s nothing to worry about. It was an accident.” She sat on the bed and combed her fingers through her hair as she held a cotton garment to the lantern light and tried to determine if it would be warm enough to sleep in.

He bunched the shirt in his hands, wrinkling its fabric before turning to sit across from her, his brow creased in worry. 

“Really?”

“Yes, of course.” She tossed the shirt into her traveling bag and continued her search, running her hands through its contents as it was too difficult to make out anything in the little light they had. 

“…Rue…are you…unhappy? That I asked you to come here?”

She froze; her just removed wool thigh-length stockings in hand. 

“What?" She twisted to face him. “What are you talking about?”

The young man stared at his hands resting on the comforter, his knuckles tense. 

“It’s only that…I only mean…you haven’t seemed very happy since we arrived.” His eyes rose, but did not meet hers. “I thought perhaps…coming here might have brought up some unpleasant memories. Or perhaps you were upset with me. Like today…at the store…”

She abandoned her clothes, crawling across the bed to settle beside him. She reached for him--hesitating--then laid a hand on his bare shoulder. 

“What gave you that idea? I’ve been having a wonderful time. I love seeing Ahiru and Fakir and the school and…and nothing’s upset me, especially not _you_. Why would you think--? And I really did just want a little air. The store was stuffy and reeked of peppermint.” 

“…You didn’t tell me though. You should have told me if it bothered you. We could have left. But I just--I turned around and--…” He reached up to place a hand over the one on his shoulder. She couldn’t see his eyes. 

“Rue…don’t…don’t leave. If you’re unhappy, please tell me--I’ll fix it--whatever I need to do, just…don’t--…”

His hold on her hand tightened. Her eyes were wide in astonishment. 

“Leave? Why would I leave?”

Slowly, he shifted to lean against the headboard of the bed, unconsciously pulling her with him. He stared out at the window on the opposite wall--watched the snowflakes swirl against the glass. 

“I have dreams, sometimes. Dreams where you’re unhappy with us…with me. You’re tired of me and the kingdom, and want to go away, and no matter what I try to do you still want to go. Sometimes you leave; you fly off and even if I run after you I can’t keep up, and you disappear into the moonlight and I never see you again. Other times I panic and try to do something to keep you from going, like chaining you to the ground or locking you in a cage so I’ll still be able to see you… _touch_ you, so I know you’re still there. But then…you become even more upset, and you won’t look at me, or speak to me, and you pull at the chains until you’re bleeding and you won’t let me help you, and then…you die…or…” He trailed off. 

 

Her heart seized at his words. _Tire of him? She could never tire of him! Why would she ever want so desperately to leave his side when she’d fought so hard against so much to get there? How could he_ ever _make himself believe--_

Her jaw tightened and she slid down on the bed to rest her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms possessively around his waist. _No, no no no she would not be swayed away from him. Ever. She would kill whomever dared try to separate them!_ She flinched at the violent thought; she’d hoped that part of her would not be able to rise so quickly to the surface. 

“Nonsense.” She rose so he would meet her firm gaze. “I would never wish to leave you. I love you, more than anything. And you know that.” She rested her forehead against his. “I rather die than leave you.”

His eyes swam with anxiety and hope. He griped her arm. 

“Really? Do you…do you mean that?”

“Of course.”

He slumped against her, like he did earlier out in the snow, burying his face in the crook of her neck. 

“They were taunting me, you know. The ravens. I can understand them now, a little. When I left the store to look for you, I heard them talking about how you were trying to get away from me. About how you hurried away the first moment my back was turned.” 

She ran a hand through his hair, which had always been softer than anything else she’d ever touched. 

“You shouldn't have listened. They were only trying to upset you.”

“Yes. I suppose.”

The pads of his fingers ran up and down the underside of her arm before moving, tracing down to the curve of her hip. She smiled at his ministrations, kissing him on the crown of his head. The action made him stop, and he moved out of her hold and up onto his knees before her. 

“You won’t leave.” It came out more like a question.

“No.”

His hands reached out to gently cup the sides of her face. 

“And you’ll tell me, if you’re unhappy in any way.”

She giggled, “I suppose.” Though she doubted she would be.

His eyes searched her face, staring into her own warm wine colored ones that danced with the flicker of the lamp light, before he dipped in to place a soft kiss on her cheek. She smiled, her eyes fluttering close in contentment. 

He did not pull away, as she expected him to. His lips continued, gently pressing over her cheekbone and ear--barely touching her skin as he kissed his way down to the hollow of her neck. She blinked, shifting against his hands. 

“Mytho?”

He halted in his journey to breath kisses back up to her face. He was smiling now; his eyes glowed to match the warm light coming from the corner of the room. 

“I’m going to keep you then. For as long as I am able. And no one shall take you from me.” He leaned in to sigh against the shell of her ear. "You belong to me, my princess.”

He was kissing her before she had time to react.

.....

Rue woke to bright sunlight pouring in from the windows, and cursed herself for not remembering to pull the curtains the night before. When she tried to move and bury her head beneath the pillow, she found herself unable to move--pinned in her place by an arm wrapped around her bare middle.

_Bare. Bare._

She shifted.

_She was naked._ She puzzled over this development. 

_Naked. Naked, and there was an arm. That wasn’t hers._

Slowly, she reached out and pulled back the bedding covering her. She traced the foreign offending limb with bleary eyes, and was lead to a mop of soft white hair spread out on the pillow next to her, its human body cuddling her like a favored stuffed animal. 

_Ah. Right._

At her movements, the mop stirred and blinked open sleepy gold eyes that squeezed shut the moment the blinding daylight hit them. He turned to hide his face in the pillow before finding his arms detained, thereby making him immobile. He turned back into the light to venture a look and what it was holding. She watched his eyes refocus on her face, and then her prince was smiling sluggishly at her. 

“Go’ morning.”

There were hurried footsteps outside, then a high cracking voice that sounded out of breadth.

“Ruuuuue? Rue, are you awake?”

Followed by one in a much lower register.

“Don’t go charging in, it’s still morning.”

“He told me to come get them!” The first voice hissed back in irritation. The doorknob to their room was suddenly turning--

“Rue, Mytho, we’re sorry we couldn’t come to dinner last night but we thought we might come for breakfast instea--OH!!”

\--and in the doorway stood a petite girl in a bright blue coat that matched her eyes, whose face was quickly turning as red as her hair. 

“AH! Ah-sorry-wedidn’tmeanto-we’llcomeback-!!” She turned to collide with the body behind her.

“Ah--hey, watch where you’re running! Either go in or don’t but don’t just change you mind halfway--…”

“NONODon’tlook--!"

“What?”

Fakir froze as he gazed over the top of the sputtering girl’s flailing arms. He blinked, then deadpanned at the newly woken couple. 

“Really--you had to in _my_ bed? There wasn’t any other option available?”


End file.
